tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29799698661685030882018-05-28T23:58:42.980-06:00JCorbin PhotographyThis is the personal blog of Jeremy Corbin, a photographer in Denver, CO.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger90125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-49886156127001104822014-10-23T12:45:00.002-06:002014-10-23T12:45:51.405-06:00Technology Questions - Should I buy a Mac or a PC?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nB0_o82rutE/VElLlNLb1CI/AAAAAAAAPmc/HWqf7kxpG54/s1600/June%2B11%2C%2B2014%2B-%2BIMGP7150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nB0_o82rutE/VElLlNLb1CI/AAAAAAAAPmc/HWqf7kxpG54/s1600/June%2B11%2C%2B2014%2B-%2BIMGP7150.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div><br />Every few days I'll see an innocent post to one of the popular Facebook Groups with the same question over and over:<br /><br /><i>"I need to buy a new computer for photo/video editing. Should I get a Mac or a PC?"</i><br /><br />This single question drives me crazy more than anyone asking how to #1 Decrease Depth Of Field in their photos, or even #2 Where to buy V-Flats. (To answer those two, #1 RTFM and #2 Home Depot) What drive me crazy isn't that the Original Poster (OP) is trying to gain knowledge about computers, but the flame war that ensues by the people trying to answer the question. The answers vary from <i>"Buy a Mac, they're awesome"</i>&nbsp;which is acceptable but lacking detail to&nbsp;<i>"Sue Bryce uses a Mac so they must be good"</i>&nbsp; which is completely useless advice from clueless creatives.<br /><br />In the past (even 20 minutes before writing this) I have typed out a technical yet easy-to-follow comparison of the two paths in question and try to descend from the IT-Heavens to disseminate knowledge upon the hoards of clueless creatives, only to have my knowledge burned at the stake like the poor souls at the Salem Witch Trials. (I have a flair for the dramatic.) In order to prevent myself from getting carpal tunnel, I'm writing this post to simply drop into these ludicrous flame wars on these forums so that I feel like I'm adding something intelligent to the discussion instead of what everyone else does: Unceasingly Pointless Bickering.<br /><br />Now I realize that most people closed their browser tab to this post just now... so... Now that the ignorant fanboys have left the conversation, we can safely have an intelligent monologue about this topic. (It's only a dialogue if you post in the comments below or ask additional questions. Anyone commenting with "ur wrong cuase feelz" should feel free to refrain from commenting until they can use English properly. If I passed 8th Grade Journalism so can you.)<br /><br />The Cliff Notes Version: It doesn't really matter. Stick with what you are comfortable with.<br /><br />If that's all you needed, you can close your browser now, but if you needed more than that, grab a coffee and strap yourself in.<br /><br />The Full Version:<br />First, a little background<i>: Why is Mac even an option?</i> Apple was the bees knees for creatives until Apple's desire outreached their potential. Adobe had first developed many of the creative/GUI tools that Mac users rave about even today for Apple that weren't available to PC users at the time. In addition, the hardware that was used for Macs was top notch and avoided "cheap" parts whenever possible thus making a Mac akin to making a Porsche. However, Apple knew that in order to make a polished operating system with robust features "to sell to the masses" (like adding air-conditioning and leather seats to the Porsche) they abandoned the practice of making their own processor, "The PowerPC," in favor of a long-term commitment with Intel to manufacture the processors instead. This important change in CPU architecture had a lot of effects, including bringing Macs and PCs closer together than most people realize. Since that time (1999-ish) Macs have used the same Intel processors that many PC users had already been using. The architecture of the Mac changed and became more PC-like than most modern Mac users even realize, but without the innovation from Apple, PC users would likely still be using Unix-like text prompts to handle basic tasks. I still find it entertaining when I hear a Mac user say that the "Core i7" in the Mac is designed by Apple simply because of the "i" in "i7." Nope... Sorry buddy, but that's an Intel Chip and most of their lineup uses that nomenclature.<br /><br /><i>Okay, so why is PC even an option? </i>This question is simple compared to the Mac answer. Americans like stuff that is "good enough" and "cheap enough." After all, the Common Man, as Copland might say, doesn't need a Porsche just to get to work when a Toyota would do the job just as well. In fact, last-year's Toyota would do even better since that hardware has been proven already. For this very reason, most users choose PC over Mac because of cost alone. To them, the difference between a Porsche and a Toyota is meaningless since they just need to get from A to B. With the resulting ubiquity of PCs most software developers and hardware manufacturers, even Adobe and Intel, needed to come to terms with that ubiquity in order to remain profitable. In order to drive down costs and be competitive, decisions were made to use less-expensive parts on some builds so that the Common Man would buy them. Obviously, using less-expensive parts meant that those parts didn't last as long. In the past decade or so, there has been a desire for Power Users and Enthusiasts to have better hardware for their machines without going "all in" with a Mac. In the same way that Toyota has Lexus, Hardware Vendors started to produce better models with better hardware that lasted longer and had nicer features. Even still, some Enthusiasts wanted even better hardware and started building their own machines with hand-picked parts. These machines are similar to the Porsche analogy that we used above. They aren't cheap, but they're incredibly reliable and perform very well.<br /><br /><i>Note: I find that it might be important to mention here that what most people call PC isn't always "Windows." There are a lot of operating systems that use this type of hardware and Linux-Based OSes are a prime example of that. However, for the simplicity of the argument we're leaving Linux out of this equation until Adobe starts writing software for Linux natively or the Indie Devs can catch up with Adobe which is a good possibility in the next 3-5 years if Adobe keeps treading water insteading of moving forward.</i><br /><br /><br />With our brief, and completely abridged history out of the way we can tackle the current arguments at hand:<br /><br />Mac Fanboys (a Fanboy is someone so blinded by their love for something that they will talk trash about other choices without performing any in-depth analysis) will say the same 3 things every time this argument is presented to them:<br />1) "Buy a Mac cause it is faster and lasts longer."<br />2) "Buy a Mac cause *some big-shot photographer* uses it."<br />3) "Buy a Mac cause it's easier to use."<br />Two of these arguments are stupid and the remaining argument is personal and doesn't apply to everyone.<br />1) Mac Users that compare a $1400 Macbook Pro to a $300 PC-based laptop are intentionally misleading you. It's a dick move to say "My Porsche is faster and will outlast your Toyota." For crap's sake, I should hope a $1400 machine beats a $400 machine.<br />2) Are you Sue Bryce, Jeremy Cowart, or Chase Jarvis? What makes you think that their answer will be your answer? Would you change your religion to be like them? Would you buy the same underwear or live in the same neighborhood just to be like them? Of course not. You're not shooting the same style with the same clients as they are. Trying to "be like Jarvis" will do nothing but frustrate you. Please observe them and emulate them until you figure out who YOU are, then move on to buying your own underwear.<br />3) Not everyone finds MacOS easy to use. I find it frustrating as hell. I don't particularly like WindowsOS either. Not everyone likes g-strings so trying to convince someone to buy a g-string cause it worked for them might not make sense to you. You find what works "good enough" and you roll with it.<br /><br />PC Fanboys... I love you guys but your arguments are often just as lame as the Mac User's.<br />1) "Buy PC because they're cheaper."<br />2) "Build your own PC cause then it will be better than anything else."<br />3) "It is easier to find software for PC."<br />These 3 things have similar issues to those above...<br />1) Your $400 laptop might be cheaper, but in 3 years you'll have to replace it cause it will have melted a hole in your desk. Cheap Laptops suffer from bad airflow. Stop recommending them.<br />2) Not everyone is capable (or even interested) in building their own PC. If they were capable, they wouldn't be asking for advice.<br />3) If you plan on using your content-creation machine for doing other things, this argument *might* make sense, but if it's only for content-creation and that's it, Adobe (and others) already write for both major OSes, so your argument makes no sense here.<br /><br />So, with those out of the way, <b>let's get down to business</b> and say that Creatives want 3 things:<br />1) A Machine that is powerful enough to get work done but it must last a long time. We don't like buying the same things twice or replacing parts every few years.<br />2) A Machine that is going to run the software that we need it to run. A lot of us use Lightroom and Photoshop. Some of us use FinalCut and Premier. We need a machine that can use this software.<br />3) A Machine that can use our favorite peripherals, like external hard drives, weighted mice, Wacom Tablets, and IPS displays.<br /><br />So, what is the answer to those 3 questions? Simply put: If you spend the appropriate amount on a machine, it will do all of those things. A $1400 Mac will do those things. A $1400 PC will do those things. Your editing rig is not the place to skimp out and spend only $400 because you blew all your money on a Nikon D4 or a Canon 6D. (If you bought a 6D and are still using a 6 year-old Dell, shame on you.)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bbGbGvBobkI/VElJci8PWhI/AAAAAAAAPmI/rXX9FfoSAd4/s1600/MBP13.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bbGbGvBobkI/VElJci8PWhI/AAAAAAAAPmI/rXX9FfoSAd4/s1600/MBP13.jpeg" height="240" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>&nbsp;On the Mac side, I recommend the <a href="http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MGX72LL/A&amp;step=config#" target="_blank">13" Macbook Pro</a> for $1300 and adding the <a href="http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC914LL/B/apple-thunderbolt-display-27-inch?afid=p238%7CJ8qNm7U9-dc_mtid_1870765e38482_pcrid_44677251610_&amp;cid=aos-us-kwg-pla-apple+accessories" target="_blank">27" Thunderbolt Display</a> ($1000) to use for your main screen. The Macbook Pro has an aluminum housing and the IPS (aka Retina) display for sharp lines and accurate colors (once calibrated). Thunderbolt and USB3 are about the same speed (within margin of error) so you aren't missing anything there. This setup will allow you to take just the Macbook when you need to be portable while still having a quality display when you're at your desk to do serious editing. If you opt to put the 27" display off until later however, you'll struggle with using the 13" display on the Macbook as your primary screen.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jUqlF4la7IY/VElJfWWqgnI/AAAAAAAAPmQ/vLufK6rS5ds/s1600/ASUS%2BN550JK-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jUqlF4la7IY/VElJfWWqgnI/AAAAAAAAPmQ/vLufK6rS5ds/s1600/ASUS%2BN550JK-c.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the PC side, I recommend the 15.6" <a href="http://www.amazon.com/N550JK-DB74T-Full-HD-Touchscreen-Laptop-Aluminum-Body/dp/B00LO3K002/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414019714&amp;sr=8-2&amp;keywords=asus+n550" target="_blank">Asus N550JK</a> for $1400 and adding the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Asus-PA279Q-LED-Monitor-68-47cm-27/dp/B00DRPZ0O6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1414080113&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=ASUS+PA279Q" target="_blank">27" Asus PA279Q Display</a>&nbsp;($1000) to use for your main screen. This Asus has an aluminum housing like the Macbook Pro above as well as an IPS display for sharp lines and accurate colors (once calibrated).&nbsp;Thunderbolt and USB3 are about the same speed (within margin of error) so you aren't missing anything there.&nbsp;Like the Macbook Pro above, you can take just the laptop with you when you must be portable and still have a 10-bit panel for getting serious editing done. Editing on the 15.6" alone isn't dreadful, but you'll quickly find yourself hunched over your rig as you struggle to smash your face closer to the screen after an hour or so. Get the big screen as an add-on ASAP.</div><br />Both of these setups are essentially ready for software to be installed, a color calibrator, and some content to create. Building your own rig can be cheaper, but installing hardware, OSes, and drivers sucks the life out of most mortals, so getting a pre-built Macbook/Laptop is my recommended option.&nbsp;Also note that these rigs only have a single storage device in them: The Macbook only has a 128GB SSD while the Asus only has a 256GB SSD. I consider this a GOOD thing. A single drive in your workstation isn't adequate regardless of it's size. In fact, the only thing that should be on your internal drive aside from the OS itself and Lightroom is your Lightroom catalog. That's it. Without Backups and Archives on <i>external</i> devices, your workflow is on the brink of disaster. I can cover storage solutions in another thread, or maybe I can make a video, but storage is actually more important than the editing rig you own, in my honest opinion.<br /><br />Ok Jeremy, that's all great, but I don't want to spend $2500 on a computer just to edit photos. Good for you. If you aren't working with the massive RAW files dumped out by the newer cameras you can get away with buying a used rig and just rolling with it. I shoot with older gear and I edit them on an older PC I built 6 years ago because I can get away with it. To edit my 10MP RAW files, I'm using an AMD Triple-Core on a custom PC that I built for the purpose. If I was editing 2000 36MP files from weddings every weekend, I'd be upgrading in a hurry. I shoot editorial headshots and such once or twice a week right now so I have maybe 200 10MP files to go through. My PC doesn't struggle with them, so there is no need to change anything.<br /><br />So what do you think? Does every content creator need a Porsche or can some get away with the Lexus or even the Toyota? Leave your well-thought and polite comments/criticisms below.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-27992323246097552852014-10-14T14:56:00.002-06:002014-10-14T14:57:23.401-06:00Windows 10 Preview: Why do I even care about it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Several years ago when Adobe decided to drop support for Windows XP in Lightroom there were a number of people that were upset. Many people were still using Windows XP despite the fact that the OS had been released over 10 years previous to the announcement. However, Adobe had decided that the OS was limiting their ability to move forward with their software titles and let XP die a peaceful death. That left a lot of people with some decisions to make.</div><br />From my personal experience with the Microsoft* OSes, I'll list a brief review of actually using them in real life:<br /><br />Windows 3.11 - meh.<br />Windows 95 - okay. Introduction of the Start Button.<br />Windows 98SE - OMG this is awesome. Gamer's Delight!<br />Windows ME - WTF is wrong with Microsoft? Nothing works.<br />Windows 2000 - Okay, I understand who this is for.<br />Windows XP 64bit - Very good. Kinda sucks on 32bit, but most people didn't have 64bit like I did.<br />Windows 2003 - The gold standard for most people with their MCSA<br />Windows Vista - meh. Microsoft's "minimum requirements" were set much too low.<br />Windows 7 - Finally, a decent replacement for Windows XP.<br />Windows 2008 - Same feel as Windows7, but all the server tools that nerds like me need.<br />Windows 8 - WTF? Where is "Start?" Multiple Personality Disorder between traditional desktop and "Metro" UI.<br />Windows 8.1 - The return of the Start Button... but everything else still sucks<br />Windows 2012 - Wait, why only a 4 year product cycle on a server OS? $$$$$$<br />Windows 9 - mysteriously absent<br />Windows 10 Preview - What this post is about.<br /><br />With Windows 10, it appears that we might have a real candidate to replace Windows 7 in home environments. Most businesses won't budge from Windows 7 until solid proof that a new OS is up-to-snuff.... Which Windows 8 is certainly not.... But Windows 10 might be able to do it once the 1st Service Pack comes out.<br /><br />When I test out a new OS, I don't load it onto a blazing fast quad-core with 16gigs of ram and huge hard drives with SSDs for the /. I load it on an absolute piece of crap that I have lying around. Why? (you may ask...) Well, Lemme put it this way: Most people don't upgrade their hardware just to run a new OS. It's expensive to have that short of a lifecycle with hardware... (don't tell Mac users though... they get really huffy about their elitist hardware). So with that said, I installed Windows10 Preview 32-bit on my MSI Wind U110 with the anemic Intel Atom Z530, poorly-support Intel GMA500 graphics, flaky WiFi "G", 2GB of RAM, but I have upgraded the 160GB WD Blue that it came with to a A-DATA 32GB SSD... for which there is no discernible performance increase due to the Atom sucking air most of the time. This netbook is probably my biggest source of buyer's remorse I've ever had but it functions "meh" enough for messing around with in situations just like this.<br /><br />After installing the ISO from Microsoft onto USB stick, I started up the laptop for the install process only to discover that my SSD was missing. The Silicon Image SATA controller's driver wasn't part of the included drivers on the ISO. Windows7 included the driver, but Windows10 does not (as of this writing). After snagging the driver from MSI's website and throwing it on another USB stick for install, the SSD was recognized and away we went. The install took about the same amount of time as most other OS installs on this netbook: Overnight while I slept.<br /><br />The "Who Are You?" style information that the OS wants is about the same as W7 but with a different paint job. All but the most-clueless users will float right through the prompts. When we finally get to the desktop we get a familiar view.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S4K6dlwOzi8/VD1_nvaAxMI/AAAAAAAAPiA/lj74o96MPSM/s1600/metro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S4K6dlwOzi8/VD1_nvaAxMI/AAAAAAAAPiA/lj74o96MPSM/s1600/metro.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />One thing that I did have to change right away is the screen resolution. 1024x768 is the "normal" resolution on Windows, but my display is actually 1024x600 on this netbook. The screenshot doesn't "squish" the image like it does on the screen, but the difference on the viewing experience is noticeable.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7BRSp_bekg4/VD2Fz4EaE9I/AAAAAAAAPiw/hCAgstx0t8I/s1600/ScreenRes2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7BRSp_bekg4/VD2Fz4EaE9I/AAAAAAAAPiw/hCAgstx0t8I/s1600/ScreenRes2.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><br />After the change:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hgQ0E1TJX78/VD2FzuyDJHI/AAAAAAAAPis/drEjiOipY0I/s1600/ScreenRes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hgQ0E1TJX78/VD2FzuyDJHI/AAAAAAAAPis/drEjiOipY0I/s1600/ScreenRes.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br />Little did I know that changing the resolution to the native size for my screen would cause problems later in some of Windows10's apps. This is most noticed when you attempt to view the Store, One Drive, or Search utility.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FQo5zok0YPQ/VD2F0MUGF_I/AAAAAAAAPi0/f8A2oBVkrfQ/s1600/WindowsFeedback.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FQo5zok0YPQ/VD2F0MUGF_I/AAAAAAAAPi0/f8A2oBVkrfQ/s1600/WindowsFeedback.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />What I found entertaining is that you can open up the Screen Resolution panel, change it to 1024x768, open the app you want, then change the resolution back to native.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlTqJoGZPng/VD2FzBFc0pI/AAAAAAAAPig/WyPz0P3c4KI/s1600/AppStore5-screenres.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tlTqJoGZPng/VD2FzBFc0pI/AAAAAAAAPig/WyPz0P3c4KI/s1600/AppStore5-screenres.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />This problem was easy enough to complain about in the Feedback app, which ALSO required the resolution hack to be used to open... Tsk Tsk on reducing functionality in order to keep things "pretty."<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yto_6VG-YbM/VD2F0idB9EI/AAAAAAAAPjE/XhoYr5B-m2I/s1600/WindowsFeedback5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yto_6VG-YbM/VD2F0idB9EI/AAAAAAAAPjE/XhoYr5B-m2I/s1600/WindowsFeedback5.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />The apps are interesting. Some of them might be useful. It's really good to see Microsoft finally trying to have simple apps be as simple to install as Ubuntu started doing with Unity 2 years ago.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H5UgJ_9pn68/VD2Fy3ALSSI/AAAAAAAAPiY/vt9V89LhRgU/s1600/AppStore4-screenres.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H5UgJ_9pn68/VD2Fy3ALSSI/AAAAAAAAPiY/vt9V89LhRgU/s1600/AppStore4-screenres.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ORMVfkXRR2s/VD2FyZGp-0I/AAAAAAAAPiU/gXcP7FJBu4I/s1600/AppStore2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ORMVfkXRR2s/VD2FyZGp-0I/AAAAAAAAPiU/gXcP7FJBu4I/s1600/AppStore2.png" height="240" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Speaking of things that Ubuntu has been doing for years, the Task Switcher is fairly familiar to those that have used this in the past.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWnpjS6OgVw/VD2F409ATHI/AAAAAAAAPkk/FfhbPZ0qhRM/s1600/taskview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xWnpjS6OgVw/VD2F409ATHI/AAAAAAAAPkk/FfhbPZ0qhRM/s1600/taskview.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />On this netbook, the windows maximize and minimize with relative snap, but you can also tell that even when there aren't many apps open, the Atom Processor is relatively busy to make things smooth while trying to conserve power by leaving the core under-clocked in most cases.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9A3ueaODOMI/VD2F41Qt_XI/AAAAAAAAPko/5dW3aALFz9Q/s1600/typical%2Bworkload.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9A3ueaODOMI/VD2F41Qt_XI/AAAAAAAAPko/5dW3aALFz9Q/s1600/typical%2Bworkload.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />All of the normal Power Option seem to work correctly, and the Critical Battery shutdown seems to work as it should. This is important to anyone that's on the go and always pushing their luck with their devices.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2eeQAeBek0I/VD2F3loYLnI/AAAAAAAAPkE/1Fqq6y11plw/s1600/poweroptions.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2eeQAeBek0I/VD2F3loYLnI/AAAAAAAAPkE/1Fqq6y11plw/s1600/poweroptions.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QbQxbczp60g/VD2F13hI69I/AAAAAAAAPk8/szveRncUkGo/s1600/critical%2Bbattery.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QbQxbczp60g/VD2F13hI69I/AAAAAAAAPk8/szveRncUkGo/s1600/critical%2Bbattery.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Everyday use of the OS has been relatively painless until my obsession with multiple tabs open in Chrome. I will note that during streaming of sound or video that it can be choppy depending on the quality of the data. Video cannot run at even 720p on the netbook while "Normal" quality in Spotify was okay *most* of the time. In other cases, I'd get an occasional "oh crap" message, but it was rather non-descript.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kTIwzA9QNJs/VD2F5ZiS7TI/AAAAAAAAPkw/kmmIvmdUDTc/s1600/youtube-playback.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kTIwzA9QNJs/VD2F5ZiS7TI/AAAAAAAAPkw/kmmIvmdUDTc/s1600/youtube-playback.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QvxcuOWsn5Q/VD2F4KO1xAI/AAAAAAAAPkU/Q3O5ClO0x7c/s1600/taskbar2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QvxcuOWsn5Q/VD2F4KO1xAI/AAAAAAAAPkU/Q3O5ClO0x7c/s1600/taskbar2.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fVzlwk91GkE/VD2F2OqR7fI/AAAAAAAAPjk/DV2lyh5zBb0/s1600/explorer-error.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fVzlwk91GkE/VD2F2OqR7fI/AAAAAAAAPjk/DV2lyh5zBb0/s1600/explorer-error.png" height="187" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Finally, back to my original point of why I tried this OS out: Could I stand it being installed on my main Lightroom/Photo Editing rig? Yes. I don't believe that there is enough different with the interface that I'd hate it (which is why Windows 8.1 won't ever touch my rig). This is a double-edged sword though.... There isn't enough different to warrant the upgrade, at least as far as the GUI is concerned. I might need to install W10 on a separate SSD for testing on my LR rig, but until I do that, there's no benefit to destroying my workflow for an experiment. So, do I recommend this for playing around and watching cat videos on YouTube? Sure, but W7 is solid at that already. Should you upgrade for the sake of upgrading on a machine that you have an established workflow on already? NO. Wait for Service Pack 1 like the IT-nerds do.<br /><br /><br /><br />* - Note that I'm currently using Ubuntu 14.04 LTS for my everyday computing needs. It does almost everything I need with the glaring exception being that Adobe Lightroom does not run natively in Linux... and Wine implementations are wonky and inconsistent if you can even get it installed/running.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-64612779886786851952014-03-25T00:59:00.002-06:002014-03-25T00:59:31.251-06:00#dedpxl01Zack Arias recently started up an Assignments section on his new sub-blog, DEDPXL. I haven't shot a ton in the past 6 months (even for personal work), so I thought it would be awesome to jump in and see how well I can follow directions.... :-)<br /><br />This assignments was "lines" which I found to be quite difficult. You see, When I think "lines" I think straight lines. Always. This little phenomenon of "only straight lines" pissed off my art teacher in college to no end. In this assignment, all of the shots are from my Android using the Vignette app.<br /><br />So without further stalling:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-68NKuzgSUsM/UzEoDYmNJ6I/AAAAAAAABBg/MT8Cp-GdiJo/s1600/2014-03-18-12-48-26-942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-68NKuzgSUsM/UzEoDYmNJ6I/AAAAAAAABBg/MT8Cp-GdiJo/s1600/2014-03-18-12-48-26-942.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RjdFUE8nqLE/UzEoDGEm7HI/AAAAAAAABBc/Q8gfUtDNF2c/s1600/2014-03-18-12-52-07-311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RjdFUE8nqLE/UzEoDGEm7HI/AAAAAAAABBc/Q8gfUtDNF2c/s1600/2014-03-18-12-52-07-311.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jYa0HO6l6Is/UzEoDF9yL4I/AAAAAAAABBY/3YuBwmDCy0k/s1600/2014-03-21-16-34-48-745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jYa0HO6l6Is/UzEoDF9yL4I/AAAAAAAABBY/3YuBwmDCy0k/s1600/2014-03-21-16-34-48-745.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6S0GeIkBq-g/UzEoFpo9KVI/AAAAAAAABBw/6z0w4tXbecM/s1600/2014-03-21-16-35-54-002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6S0GeIkBq-g/UzEoFpo9KVI/AAAAAAAABBw/6z0w4tXbecM/s1600/2014-03-21-16-35-54-002.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3hA9t1-YZk/UzEoGZOJv0I/AAAAAAAABB4/GCfR9G9GqGg/s1600/2014-03-21-16-47-02-480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3hA9t1-YZk/UzEoGZOJv0I/AAAAAAAABB4/GCfR9G9GqGg/s1600/2014-03-21-16-47-02-480.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Based on these results, my filter for black and white conversions is well beyond "a little muddy" and it would be useful for me to take a look at my phone photos on my color-balanced monitor more often. The top 2 photos are basically how I saw them in my head, while the last one I could have turned down the dark corners a little. Beyond that... I'm hoping for a C since I have a really hard time with following directions. :-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-78610864088501782452013-09-19T09:18:00.000-06:002013-09-19T09:19:36.165-06:00The Power of MusicEvery once in a while, I find myself caught completely off guard by a song I hear. I won't even have to hear the song for a flood of memories to rush in and get me reminiscing of a time and place that happened half a life-time ago. Mostly, I think about the people that were in my life... and on occasion one song reminds me of one person along with all of the decisions that were made that helped shape that relationship.<br /><br />Now, don't get me wrong: A lot of people get this feeling of nostalgia that comes along with hearing an old tune on the radio, but I find myself literally caught off guard, including a rush of emotions that leaves me feeling vulnerable. It's a rather strange feeling.<br /><br />Even more strange is the thought that hearing a song that was written well-after a time in my past can remind me of a person, and then the song that I associate with that person plays in my head at the same time the newer song is playing... I guess it isn't true what they say: Men DO have a multi-track mind.<br /><br />Although the person that I'm reminded of will never read this post, I feel compelled to tell a story with as much ambiguity as possible... I know that sucks for the reader, but since there are only 3 people that follow this blog... I think I'm in the clear. ;-)<br /><br />I'll start off with the song that was written well after the memories I have: The Dillinger Escape Plan's Parasitic Twins. The words have made me think about the same person EVERY TIME I've heard them. What's most astounding about this song is the words just.... remind of things that I should have said, but didn't say... because I didn't know I had a time limit to say them. It's like it's a dying man's lament in regards to the proverbial "shoulda, coulda, woulda." The video I'm attaching isn't a video of the band... but it's portrayed exactly the way that my memory fits the song:<br /><br /><object height="338" width="600"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/xV9excAnXdo?hl=en_US&amp;version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/xV9excAnXdo?hl=en_US&amp;version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br />Obviously, the old lady is the "girl" that I'm finding myself thinking about.... She made things for me; Not in the literal sense, but the proverbial. I adored her... Actually loved her... Deeply... and I never told her the depth of my feelings because there was never an appropriate time to do it. As a result, we never dated. What's super strange is I find myself to actually be in this video twice: In one instance, I'm the extraordinarily-tall gentlemen that's dancing and carrying on with the old lady. And in the other, I'm the "bell hop" that's simply watching, even guiding myself in the dream/fantasy that has been created. I can't really interact with myself. One skewed (yet incredibly accurate) detail is that the old lady in the video is how I see the person in my life now... It's like she has aged after the time the memory was created.... but I didn't. That's why this video is so fitting to the song in my head. I didn't age in my memory... but I can't allow her to not age due to the passage of time. She's still beautiful, but the passage of time for her is indicative of not being able to go back and "fix" my mistakes.<br /><br />Mistakes.<br /><br />Mistakes is what brings me to the original memory that was created: Cake's Never There. It's the song that was present when I was deeply lamenting over what had happened. The live version is actually better since it's incredibly imperfect... but you can hear John McCrea's voice just so "angry" about what happened. That live voice can't hide what he was able to during the recording of the album... It's true: I was literally angry, and hurt, when my moment had passed and I had done nothing:<br /><br /><object height="338" width="600"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/p5JSwtb4Rnw?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/p5JSwtb4Rnw?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br />Anyway, the passage of time can allow some wounds to heal, but when you hear an old (or newer) song that causes those feelings to rush back and try to tear you apart again. It's agonizing. Don't get me wrong: I love my life now and how it is, but when those feelings from the past rush back in it's incredibly painful despite what the current situation in life is.<br /><br /><br /><br />Drop a comment if you know what I'm talking about... Or don't.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-69846522674688214472013-07-30T10:00:00.000-06:002013-07-30T10:00:07.083-06:00Lightroom 5, Adjustment Brush ChaosLast week I upgraded from Lightroom2 to Lightroom5. It's a rather large revision integer increase... but from what I've heard about the adjustment brushes being enhanced it seemed like the time to do it.<br /><br />Given: My setup is not a traditional photographer's setup being that my extensive background in IT prevents me from having a "normal" setup. I simply know better than to just "let it be."<br /><br />With that said, here is a list of geeky stats that mortals can feel free to skip without retribution:<br />AMD AthlonII X3 455 - (3.3GHz TripleCore)<br />GSkill 2x4GB DDR3 1600<br />Seagate 250GB (7200.10) for the filesystem<br />WD 2x500GB (620AS) (RAID1) for the DNGs, JPGs, and LR Catalog Backups<br />IBM LTO2 Drive for Long Term Archiving<br />Ubuntu 13.04 x64 HOST<br />Windows 7 SP1 x64 Guest (with 2cores, 4GB RAM, and 40GB HD reserved)<br /><br />As most geeks can see, my system is fairly modest as far as components go. In LR2 (XP Guest) I noticed when using SyncAll and Exporting that it would take quite a while to get those functions done. I believe that this is purely due to a lack of available clock cycles and RAM. Upgrading hardware has been on my To Do list for two years, but I'm content just grabbing a bite to eat while I export photos.<br /><br /><br /><b>Regular Folk continue reading here</b>:<br />My initial review of it is that it's faster in some ways and slower in others. The interface loads faster than LR2. Exporting photos and Adjustment brushes execute about the same. What is slower is the backup of the catalog. I don't segregate my catalogs like other folks I know so everything is in one giant file going back to 2011 so this isn't a big factor for those folks.<br /><br />I've tried the new sharpening algorithms and I was able to take a photo with unacceptable sharpness to acceptable. That's something that LR2 wouldn't have been able to handle: Out of Focus edges stayed out of focus and unrecoverable. So this bit is fairly impressive. Don't think that the new sharpening will save your ass when you blow it though since this isn't magic. Those of you with Canon 85/1.2 will still have blurry eyes of you're not paying attention. My tests at 35/2.4 (which is fairly forgiving) still had issues when it came to being loose with focus points and technique.<br /><br />The Noise Reduction is definitely better than LR2, but again, it's not magic. My test shots at ISO800 were passable, but still not anything good enough for me to share online. More Light is Better. Good Technique when shooting saves more time with better results than the "fix it in post" mentality.<br /><br />One issue that miffed me was the adjustment brush wouldn't appear in the Develop module unless I hovered over the Size and Feathering sliders.<br /><br />Mouse hovering over image field (no, really... totally invisible):<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GnrSqrKFxkg/Ue7coIACqrI/AAAAAAAAA9U/Xws1NTF4FIY/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+12:27:33.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GnrSqrKFxkg/Ue7coIACqrI/AAAAAAAAA9U/Xws1NTF4FIY/s640/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+12:27:33.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Mouse hovering over Size slider:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1sJKFAHtEI/Ue7dADlviHI/AAAAAAAAA9c/VuCUhIWr5Rs/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+12:27:44.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1sJKFAHtEI/Ue7dADlviHI/AAAAAAAAA9c/VuCUhIWr5Rs/s640/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+12:27:44.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />I could still use the brushes, but obviously accuracy was in the crapper since I couldn't actually see where the brush IS...only where it HAD BEEN. This is obviously troublesome for workflow. I found an article <a href="http://forums.adobe.com/message/1392109#1392109" target="_blank">HERE</a> that talked about this issue, but I thought I'd walk through it briefly while I was talking about it. All that I needed to do was decrease the amount of acceleration that was being used for the video card. (Sidenote: Yes, this affected Windows7 when natively installed as well as virtual machines.)<br /><br />Firstly, use the Control Panel to bring up the Display Settings, then select Advanced Settings:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DSaLtG1f2Vw/Ue7eD3zF1TI/AAAAAAAAA9s/leM-A8JDgmI/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:13:29.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DSaLtG1f2Vw/Ue7eD3zF1TI/AAAAAAAAA9s/leM-A8JDgmI/s640/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:13:29.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />&nbsp;Then select the Troubleshoot Tab, then click on Change Settings:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w74qfVSEJbU/Ue7eNXFdTpI/AAAAAAAAA90/7OlvNdL5Va0/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:13:37.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w74qfVSEJbU/Ue7eNXFdTpI/AAAAAAAAA90/7OlvNdL5Va0/s640/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:13:37.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />From here, back off the Hardware Acceleration slider from Full to the Next-Best setting and click OK:<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NDJ1aPsJAmE/Ue7eNhgFeMI/AAAAAAAAA98/ul7vIF2emGE/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:13:47.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NDJ1aPsJAmE/Ue7eNhgFeMI/AAAAAAAAA98/ul7vIF2emGE/s640/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:13:47.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Once your back into the Adjustment Brush Tool in the Develop Module, the brush is actually visible:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-11vvmDqmRW0/Ue7eNihiYMI/AAAAAAAAA94/L9vs7fEDBpg/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:12:58.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-11vvmDqmRW0/Ue7eNihiYMI/AAAAAAAAA94/L9vs7fEDBpg/s640/Screenshot+from+2013-07-23+13:12:58.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />Anyway, I'm looking forward to using LR5 in the coming months and I'm hoping that there aren't any additional weird stuff with the interface but we'll see. I don't upgrade software very often so I'll be sure to relate if this integer increase was actually worth it in the long run.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-71228140765008719052013-07-16T15:10:00.001-06:002013-07-16T15:12:48.770-06:00Stagnation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GMEy2C7BAEM/UeW2f4TPyRI/AAAAAAAAA9E/QUxso2Mi9Pc/s1600/May+07,+2013-IMGP5403-cp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GMEy2C7BAEM/UeW2f4TPyRI/AAAAAAAAA9E/QUxso2Mi9Pc/s640/May+07,+2013-IMGP5403-cp.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>I'd love to say that I've been completely inactive for the past 6 months because I'm working on some super-secret project.... but I can't.<br /><br />I'd love to pretend that I'm the too-big-for-my-britches fancy-schmancy photographer that declares each project or job they've completed was a total success on facebook and other social media... but I can't.<br /><br />I'd love to post 4 beautifully lit shots with a background story with this post... but I can't.<br /><br />I haven't even been shooting much on my phone let alone anything proper.<br /><br />I can't lie to myself and I can't lie to you: I haven't been shooting because I've been depressed... and I've been depressed because I haven't been shooting. I'm exceedingly aware of this detrimental reciprocity but I can't seem to pull out of it. It's certainly not due to a lack of trying; Plans and Shoots keep falling apart. Scheduling issues and not feeling well have been contributing to the issue as well. Grandparents have died, loved-ones are getting cancer, memories of disappointing old teachers...<br /><br />So what's happening with me?<br />Did I define my niche' so well that the right client is as rare as triple rainbows?<br />Did I price myself so that I no longer lose money on each job only to discover that now no one can afford me?<br />Do I really suck at photography as much as the voice in my head says I do?<br />Did I decide to make work that's so random that it's not meant for general consumption?<br /><br />It's quite the conundrum: On one hand, I'd love to be so busy with work that everyone books me for everything like I'm a brand-new photographer doing family sessions for $25 including a DVD of 1000 images... BUT... on the other hand I want my work to be paced properly and high-quality like the client just paid me $1000 for a single print on their wall. Does the price I place myself at matter as much as the work I make? Not at all, but watching social media lately it looks like everyone is suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.<br /><br />I'm beginning to see why photographers just shoot for themselves and declare to the world that they're Fine Art Photographers instead of trying to wrangle in clients that don't really "fit" their niche'... That sounds lovely right now: Paying subjects to sit down and be patient with me while I extract photos from idea precipitate, then sell huge, limited-edition prints of the work at the Artist's Market or consignment walls at the local pub to the correct client. Complete control over my process would be amazing.... Complete control over my life would be amazing.... but that's not what I have. That's not what any of us have. I have to make my time away from my family count for something and that means getting compensated in a way that's easy to calculate in US Dollars.<br /><br />If you've made it this far through the post maybe you feel the same way about something in your own life. Most people keep these negative thoughts in their own head but I've been doing that for months and it hasn't been helping. I'd rather be complete honest about myself than pretend that I'm something that I'm not. <i>"You shouldn't say that stuff because it's bad for your business!"</i> Sure... Maybe... But if I'm lying to everyone about how awesome my life is isn't that just as bad?<br /><br />Its time for a change. I'm off to schedule something awesome in hopes that it pans out.<br />What are you going to change in your own situation?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-63375460882011438012013-02-16T17:21:00.001-07:002013-02-16T17:29:04.382-07:00Selfie Challenge!!!! #3<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine that Voice-Over-Guy that does work for the Movies...</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Self Portrait Challenge.... One Man.... One Woman... taking photos of themselves....</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay... that's enough of that.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Week, Carolina posted a lovely mirror shot, per my request. You can see the results of that photo here:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.inrainorshine.com/2013/02/self-portrait-challenges-round-2.html" target="_blank">Self Portrait Challenge, Round 2</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Her Challenge in response to mine? "A photo booth type series with a different emotion in each photo."</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Brutal. Showing emotions is really hard for me... Being happy is great and all, but showing other emotions honestly, and in public, can be really hard. It reminded me of the Japanese and how they have one "mask" that they put on at work and something else when they're being truthful... It's called Honne and Tatemae. You can read about it here:</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honne_and_tatemae">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honne_and_tatemae</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, with that in mind, and the fake emotions we put on, here is this week's submission:</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Emote</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-I__KHNgZU/USAhWU6thJI/AAAAAAAAA4k/bGOgmjUHLpg/s1600/Emote.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z-I__KHNgZU/USAhWU6thJI/AAAAAAAAA4k/bGOgmjUHLpg/s640/Emote.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Nerd Alert: Shot with my Android using&nbsp;<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.neilandtheresa.VignetteNewDemo&amp;feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsInVrLmNvLm5laWxhbmR0aGVyZXNhLlZpZ25ldHRlTmV3RGVtbyJd" target="_blank">Vignette</a>&nbsp;with the "Holga" filter. Arranged in <a href="http://www.gimp.org/" target="_blank">GIMP 2.6</a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Carolina, This week your challenge is to use off camera flash... but not just FOR your photo.... I want the Off Camera Flash to be IN the photo. ;-) (I'm sure you have a flash laying around somewhere....)</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-76349370230949991072013-02-05T10:00:00.000-07:002013-02-05T10:00:03.471-07:00Self Portrait Challenge #2Hello All 4 of you!<br /><br />If there's one thing that I love (I mean, one thing of many) it's receiving a challenge from someone... If there's something that I love more, it's challenging someone else!<br /><br />Continuing from last week,&nbsp;<a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101734838544912561557" target="_blank">+Carolina Yocom</a>&nbsp;and I have been challenging each other once a week to a themed self portrait. I asked her to make her shot with light bouncing at least once. She did exceedingly well and made the shot much more subtle than I anticipated.<br /><br />Read her post <a href="http://www.inrainorshine.com/2013/01/self-portrait-challenges.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br /><br />This week, her challenge to me was a self portrait <span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">"<span style="line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">with very shallow depth of field, focus being somewhere other than them thar eyeballs."</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;">I'm hoping I took things in a direction she didn't expect:</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>"Monocle"</i></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bYzNHuLzy7w/UQmoqYMEMrI/AAAAAAAAA3k/8yNx5zCPqzo/s1600/January+30,+2013-IMGP3146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bYzNHuLzy7w/UQmoqYMEMrI/AAAAAAAAA3k/8yNx5zCPqzo/s640/January+30,+2013-IMGP3146.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19px; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Nerd Alert: Pentax K10, Kiron 35-135/3.5 Macro, AlienBee 400 @1/8th.&nbsp;1/125, f/3.5, ISO100 (I think)</span></div><br /><br />My dear Carolina, this next week's challenge to you is this: Self Portrait using a mirror. Have fun!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-23393822861475911112013-01-23T15:35:00.002-07:002013-01-23T15:35:11.778-07:00Self Portraits (are awkward)Self Portraits always make me nervous... not that I'm not comfortable in front of the camera... not because I don't like the way I look... but because I don't know what expression to make. I believe that in this regard, women must have it easier: Short of doing "the duck face" ladies score an easy win when it comes to selfies. <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(btw, whomever invented the duck face should be promptly beaten with a stick.) </span>A fantastic example of successful selfies is anything that&nbsp;<a class="g-profile" href="http://plus.google.com/101734838544912561557" target="_blank">+Carolina Yocom</a>&nbsp;makes.&nbsp;For me,&nbsp;I feel that I end up being way too serious or completely&nbsp;loony&nbsp;with my&nbsp;intangibly&nbsp;dim-witted smile. Alas... I usually go for "serious."<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>Today, I was playing with lighting setups a bit and I, of course, was standing by and ready to be my own subject. I always try new lighting setups in the privacy of my own company <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I tend to avoid complete humiliation that way)</span> and today I decided to find a use for that blue gel that comes in our strobist kits. You know which blue.... the one that makes even the most boring science lab so interesting you want to jump into the photo and help the chemist mix something in that beaker... But I've been watching more and more film noir lately... I have that "look" in my head. Granted: If I were to completely dump digital and go for this look I'd probably be shunned by the entire photography community again... <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(what do you mean 'you don't use photoshop but you shoot digital?') </span>Hmm... Maybe that's my next ticket... Ahem.<br /><br />Anyway I have two treatments of the same photo today and I can't decide which one is "better" so I'm putting it to ya'll.<br /><br /><br />A)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-10fVSnB0Z18/UQBiiVg_8AI/AAAAAAAAA2s/wv2PFkREL24/s1600/January+23,+2013-IMGP3127-bw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-10fVSnB0Z18/UQBiiVg_8AI/AAAAAAAAA2s/wv2PFkREL24/s640/January+23,+2013-IMGP3127-bw.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />B)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-McjDJr1RiCI/UQBij0KgSvI/AAAAAAAAA20/brMg9JSWxIk/s1600/January+23,+2013-IMGP3127-75-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-McjDJr1RiCI/UQBij0KgSvI/AAAAAAAAA20/brMg9JSWxIk/s640/January+23,+2013-IMGP3127-75-25.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">PS- Yes I love HopeCon, Bettie Page, and this IS my favorite shirt. So... there.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">PPS- I treated these in the same way that I do most of my work... My blacks are common, whites are rare, and "black and white conversion" doesn't mean "desaturation."</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-86473066826981678012012-12-17T14:00:00.000-07:002012-12-17T14:00:01.720-07:00A or B?So today I'm going to pull a "Chase Jarvis." ((No, I'm not going to jump on a plane and ski backwards while trying to get some great photos of snowboarders flying through the air...))<br /><br />Chase has these interesting posts where he shows two photos and then asks his audience which one they like better and why. Why is that fun? Well, when going through a crap-ton (yes, that's a technical term) of photos it's hard to decide which photos are going to be THE ones you show. In some cases, there's only ONE that makes it out to the public and only months and months later do the rest surface.<br /><br />I had a recent photo session that where the sun was hidden behind the clouds and the sky was perfect.... for about 10 minutes. I had several photos that I liked, but these last two..... I just couldn't decide which one I liked better:<br /><br /><br />A)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A1Actvqq1U4/UMwo33k28kI/AAAAAAAAA0E/rTTz2NFH7fw/s1600/December+08,+2012-IMGP2590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A1Actvqq1U4/UMwo33k28kI/AAAAAAAAA0E/rTTz2NFH7fw/s640/December+08,+2012-IMGP2590.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />B)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCnUm4Mdye4/UMwo4i8u5ZI/AAAAAAAAA0M/U5sjBLLisWY/s1600/December+08,+2012-IMGP2604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gCnUm4Mdye4/UMwo4i8u5ZI/AAAAAAAAA0M/U5sjBLLisWY/s640/December+08,+2012-IMGP2604.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />These were made only moments apart, but they look very different. Which would you pick and why?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-74547931131009650282012-10-29T09:00:00.000-06:002012-10-29T09:00:08.328-06:00Blogging for the sake of blogging<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5q8S4G4Z3Rk/UImWhT5KngI/AAAAAAAAAsU/BG0DZCPP_Fc/s1600/July+20,+2012-IMGP9784-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5q8S4G4Z3Rk/UImWhT5KngI/AAAAAAAAAsU/BG0DZCPP_Fc/s640/July+20,+2012-IMGP9784-c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />I recently read a post on my local photographers group <i>Mile High Photographers</i>&nbsp;about blogging and how many photos people post on their blogs. There were as many unique answers as there were photographers.<br /><br />Some blogged 20-30 images while telling the narrative of the bridal party's day.<br />Others blogged 10 or so to tell their subject's story.<br /><br />I usually blog 4 or less.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PtfCFIIkdME/UImWbZYOV8I/AAAAAAAAAsE/oNFofv7-xwk/s1600/May+15,+2012-IMGP8050-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PtfCFIIkdME/UImWbZYOV8I/AAAAAAAAAsE/oNFofv7-xwk/s640/May+15,+2012-IMGP8050-c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I can't exactly put a reason to why I blog so few photos but I really feel that this blog is for myself. Don't misunderstand me: I'm glad for all 4 of you that read this... but this blog is largely a place for my to put my thoughts to paper (proverbially). Half the time, I just need to get certain ideas out of my head and into some tangible form so I can sleep at night. My photo journal serves that exact purpose: I can't draw to save my life but getting those photo shoot ideas onto paper lets me sleep at night.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_3XD2GsF8U/UImWeVpV09I/AAAAAAAAAsM/IvPLAgg9Y4o/s1600/May+19,+2012-IMGP8911-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v_3XD2GsF8U/UImWeVpV09I/AAAAAAAAAsM/IvPLAgg9Y4o/s640/May+19,+2012-IMGP8911-c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Anyway, I thought I might mention that I plan on doing a full month of free headshots. Yes: Free. Not really "Free Beer" ... more like "Free Speech." I need to get the word out in Denver that there's a new guy in town and I'm going to make as much noise as I can. I need to overwhelm the talent agents with "this Jeremy guy" and "the solid, consistent work" that I make. What better way to do than than to show up to coffee with them with a whole book that I've made of my work?<br /><br />In any case, if you're in need of a good headshot let me know. I've seen some AWFUL headshots on facebook, model mayhem, and even realtor websites... Really, people... get some good work done.... You don't look like that in person...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aA0al-R0KFg/UImWXVViOwI/AAAAAAAAAr8/1Kd01qvblFc/s1600/September+19,+2012-IMGP0659-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aA0al-R0KFg/UImWXVViOwI/AAAAAAAAAr8/1Kd01qvblFc/s640/September+19,+2012-IMGP0659-c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Oh look... 4 photos blogged! &nbsp;;-)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-27065055629977984192012-10-25T14:39:00.000-06:002012-10-25T14:40:11.975-06:00Building a book & Having good teachersHey!<br /><br />I finally fought my way through building a book: The same book I promised Zack Arias that I'd deliver to him this past May. I had the book printed by Kiss Albums. Here is the unboxing:<br /><br /><center><object height="480" width="853"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pdGBeaPeU_k?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pdGBeaPeU_k?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></center><br />The little 4" book isn't big enough to send to anyone, but now that I know it'll look awesome I can send anyone the big one after I get the big one printed.<br /><br />SO... Yeah: I know... I'm 6 months late on my promise. Why? I finished the book in February and was ready to send it to print when I realized that something didn't feel right. I had spent hours and weeks making this book something that Zack would approve of since his approval means SO much to me. I shot photos I thought he would find interesting. I composed using rule of thirds. I had both lit and natural light shots in it. I showed that I don't just show any photo I think is "okay"....<br /><br />Then it hit me.<br /><br />I made the book for Zack.... not for myself. My book lacked MY SOUL. I made the photos but I made them in a way that I didn't love in order to impress my teacher.<br /><br />I tossed the entire book and started over.<br /><br />So now that I've made the book for myself.... showing the work that I've not only done but the work I want to continue to do...... Zack is going to hate it. Meg (Zack's "better 7/8ths") is REALLY going to hate it. It's okay. At some point I'm going to have to pony up to the fact that a lot of people are going to hate my work and the only answer is to get used to it. But even if Zack hates it... it accurately shows where I'm at and where I'd like to go... It's more honest... and that's what all of my influences seem to find to be important:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gdfw_Z4uNeU/UImhDbWg2RI/AAAAAAAAAso/mFAAKr0D6iw/s1600/2012-10-25-14-06-14-429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gdfw_Z4uNeU/UImhDbWg2RI/AAAAAAAAAso/mFAAKr0D6iw/s320/2012-10-25-14-06-14-429.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Just in case you're reading this, Zack... YES. You're my Teacher and that title means more to me than I could explain in a blog post.... Maybe over coffee in the ATL.</span></div><span id="goog_1891669778"></span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-87613594904074479152012-09-11T21:07:00.001-06:002012-09-11T21:11:12.769-06:00Finally! My own Motorcycle!Just a quicky this time:<br /><br />I scoured Craigslist for weeks trying to find a bike that would meet my needs. I was prepared to buy a bike, then it'd get sold... then another... then another. Finally I found this gem!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JWFT6FApQGU/UE_8Aq074XI/AAAAAAAAAro/kDM3GyMW-0o/s1600/5Gc5Y45E93G73I53Hbc814d151e17b2131b49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JWFT6FApQGU/UE_8Aq074XI/AAAAAAAAAro/kDM3GyMW-0o/s640/5Gc5Y45E93G73I53Hbc814d151e17b2131b49.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She's a 1982 Yamaha XS400 Seca (XS400RJ). She might be 30 years old but only has 10K on her. She definitely needs some TLC, but I think it's a simple enough bike that I can learn quite a bit.&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, I'll post more pics as I get things fixed up, but the photo above is what she looked like just before I rode her home.</div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-48606117310071363692012-07-13T13:19:00.001-06:002012-07-13T13:19:50.750-06:00The right way to handle a police stopI thought this was worth sharing.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eDJrQBwJpqk" width="420"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-27529084426068586532012-07-01T01:45:00.002-06:002012-07-01T01:48:13.901-06:00I successfully didn't die todayWell, I survived the day.<br /><br />Why do I mention "surviving?" Well... I spent most of my waking day on this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T9hkY81YEPc/T-_rbTh2zBI/AAAAAAAAAqI/VFyqNyHw49o/s1600/suzuki-gz250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T9hkY81YEPc/T-_rbTh2zBI/AAAAAAAAAqI/VFyqNyHw49o/s640/suzuki-gz250.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Photo Courtesy of Suzuki - <a href="http://www.suzukicycles.com/Product%20Lines/Cycles/Products/GZ250/2010/GZ250.aspx" target="_blank">Here</a>)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">That's right, folks: Someone let me not only ride their motorcycle, but taught me how to ride it. The folks down at <a href="http://t3rg.com/">T3RG.com</a> have Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses that teach you this stuff. Why did I take a class instead of just getting a bike and "learning" how to ride it myself in my neighborhood? Well, mostly because I'm accident prone. I make a regular habit of unintentionally shoulder-checking the wall while walking between rooms so I know full-well that I needed proper instruction on how to ride.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The second thing I've been thinking about is what type of bike to get after I finish the riding class (and receive my DMV "M" Voucher thingy). The Super Sport bikes look like fun, don't get me wrong... I'd LOVE an old Honda CBR600, but I think I'm going to go with something easier to learn on first.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_m7o5b6CRwY/T-_3RmHCO-I/AAAAAAAAAqU/_1wvlb616Fc/s1600/honda-cbr250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_m7o5b6CRwY/T-_3RmHCO-I/AAAAAAAAAqU/_1wvlb616Fc/s640/honda-cbr250.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(The <a href="http://powersports.honda.com/2012/cbr250r/colors.aspx" target="_blank">Honda CBR250</a> is Captain America's personal choice...)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, I've heard all the arguments that a 600cc bike is a great starter bike and that I should skip the 250cc bikes and go right for it. But frankly, after being on a 250cc bike today I don't think a 600cc is going to be confidence-inspiring with all of the power and intimidation that it's going to bring. There's this big thing in the US that dudes ride on big bikes or they're pussies, which is why 600cc bikes are for "starting out" and 250cc bikes are for "women." Frankly, Fuck all of you that think that way and the <i>women</i> should probably go kick your ass and my wife will be first in line. Riding a bicycle for the first time when you were 5 was fucking scary (if you can remember that far back) and you started on a 12" Huffy before you grew into the 20", and then the 26", right? (not to mention riding preferences: road, mountain, kushy seat for your super-sized posterior, etc) So what makes you think that a motorcycle is any different? Forget the fact that you had short legs when you were 5 and all you have is a lack of experience that can scare the hell out of you. I'll be honest: it was scary trying to swerve, and turn, and NOT DIE, while I was trying to figure out what I was doing on the 250cc internal combustion BOMB between my legs.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nncYxlB1R24/T-_3uOYgzLI/AAAAAAAAAqc/zhONivG3XTQ/s1600/yamaha-fz6r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nncYxlB1R24/T-_3uOYgzLI/AAAAAAAAAqc/zhONivG3XTQ/s640/yamaha-fz6r.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(<a href="http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelgallerylib/619/1/0/gallery.aspx" target="_blank">Yamaha FZ6R</a> - 4 Gallons of gasoline between my legs makes for a great vasectomy)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh... and the other reason why I won't be starting out on a CBR600? I don't have a small penis. Which definitely means I won't be jumping to Harley Sportster 1200 either. Sorry, No Small Penis Here. (Same reason I'll never own a Ferarri)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrVXNguhpJk/T-_4GzbWuWI/AAAAAAAAAqk/c2ZYBcWLDTA/s1600/Harley-Sportster1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrVXNguhpJk/T-_4GzbWuWI/AAAAAAAAAqk/c2ZYBcWLDTA/s640/Harley-Sportster1200.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Great Kid! Don't get all <a href="http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/2011-Motorcycles/1200-custom.html" target="_blank">Penis-y</a>! - The Other Han Solo, Peter Griffin)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm sure that after I pass the class I'll have time to think about what bike I'm going to get for my commute and for fun, but I don't have enough experience yet to warrant thinking about a particular bike yet. Not seriously, anyway. I definitely think the look of the Super Sports are cool. The regular Sport bikes like the Yamaha <a href="http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelhome/619/0/home.aspx" target="_blank">FZ6R</a> (as opposed to the <a href="http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelhome/8/0/home.aspx" target="_blank">YZF-R6</a>) might be more my style since I could sit up a little better than on a Super Sport. For Cruisers: I'm only 5'7" so I would look retarded on a &nbsp;Harley Road King, not to mention that I haven't earned it; Check in with me when I'm 50.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dx3UR9zwY-0/T-_4pI4dIfI/AAAAAAAAAqs/Lfu43I4FYjg/s1600/Harley-RoadKing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="334" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dx3UR9zwY-0/T-_4pI4dIfI/AAAAAAAAAqs/Lfu43I4FYjg/s640/Harley-RoadKing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I can only be the <a href="http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/2011-Motorcycles/road-king.html#/gallery" target="_blank">King of the Road</a> if I can actually reach the road)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The whole thing puts me in sort of a "What Now?" scenario. There's a guy at my new Day Job, "Lomax" who actually buys bikes, fixes them up, and flips them for fun. I told him what I was up to with the course and he said that there's probably something we could work out, but he suggested getting an old Yamaha Maxim or something similar between 450cc and 650cc, or even smaller, and just rock it out for a while until I actually have preferences about what I actually want.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RCM82mPMdCw/T-_7zVYFSEI/AAAAAAAAAq8/Ovyss5K5HJA/s1600/yamaha-maxim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RCM82mPMdCw/T-_7zVYFSEI/AAAAAAAAAq8/Ovyss5K5HJA/s640/yamaha-maxim.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Maxim <a href="http://classic-motorbikes.net/gallery~Yamaha-XJ700-Maxim" target="_blank">the Bike</a>, not Maxim the Magazine)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If I prefer more power? Now I know. If I prefer better handling? Now I know. If I want to pick up <strike>chics</strike>&nbsp;the wife and have a great night out? Now I know. But its hard to know those things when my experience amounts to the 3 miles I put on a bike while riding it in circles in a parking lot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MRqlXT7dq_M/T-_6NmU4NwI/AAAAAAAAAq0/3fLnEeqezBc/s1600/honda-chopper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MRqlXT7dq_M/T-_6NmU4NwI/AAAAAAAAAq0/3fLnEeqezBc/s640/honda-chopper.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Even <strike>hot chics that don't even like me</strike> my wife would <a href="http://powersports.honda.com/2012/fury.aspx" target="_blank">want a ride</a>.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I just realized that I'm totally defending actions I haven't taken yet with this post.... Maybe I'll go back and put pics of motorcycles with funny captions to make it a little less... "heavy"... Maybe even apologize to those that bought a 600cc "starter bike"... Probably not though... I just happened to be aware of the small-penis-sociology thing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, I'll try to have my cell on me tomorrow and make some pics of riding around. I didn't have it on me today since I didn't want to be distracted, but there was just enough down time that I wish I had it to make some shots of the other riders.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh, and I did NOT take any of the photos in this post. They're all owned by their respective owners and I've linked back to where I got them in order to spread the love. I don't make money from blogging and I didn't profit from their work. This was totally educational. Suck it, Trebek!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-50740729988862076422012-06-24T17:33:00.002-06:002012-06-24T17:33:59.089-06:00I'm hot-blooded, check it and see...<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RfvsBF25f6w" width="560"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-85464804954964428792012-06-14T21:36:00.000-06:002012-06-15T12:32:57.825-06:00Photo Challenge: For CarolinaHello Everyone,<br /><br />A while back, I challenged my good friend (and photographer) Carolina Yocom to a photo challenge during a Google+ Hangout. The challenge was something like this: Make a photo of yourself staring dead-on into the camera. The reason? She's very good at making self portraits of herself in beautifully lit poses, but never dead-on from the front. She fought with her photo, but her final portrait was excellent. <a href="http://www.inrainorshine.com/2012/06/photo-challenge.html" target="_blank">You can see her photo on her blog.</a><br /><br />In exchange, her challenge to me was this: Make a dramatic portrait of myself, but.... don't use off-camera flash. She knew what my weakness was! I light almost everything I shoot. I've spent the past year strengthening my "off-camera flash mixed with ambient light" skills, so being limited to what I could use without using off-camera was a challenge.<br /><br />I fought with it for weeks...designing and redesigning the concept in my head. Tonight, I managed to capture this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EgX_8jS-itw/T9qsT0PtNXI/AAAAAAAAAp8/w2nh8Ni3dd0/s1600/June+14,+2012-IMGP9719-c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EgX_8jS-itw/T9qsT0PtNXI/AAAAAAAAAp8/w2nh8Ni3dd0/s640/June+14,+2012-IMGP9719-c.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />It's amazing how much you can get sick of seeing your own face while editing (for all 30 seconds that I touched this photo)... How do you feel about self-portraits?<br /><br />Anyway, Caro, I hope you think I did okay. XOXO.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;">PS- For the photo nerds that always love to know settings for photos.... I don't know how I shot this... but I'm guessing: 1/2" @ f/8 @ ISO200. Light source is a single shop-light from the shed... probably a 100watt bulb. I dunno... I was busy.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-70912798340420853162012-06-02T18:45:00.002-06:002012-06-02T18:45:28.519-06:00My "State of the Video Games" addressI'll be the first to admit that I was a HUGE gamer back-in-the-day:<br /><br /><ul><li>I would play video games between classes</li><li>I required that any girl I dated understand that I needed video game time</li><ul><li>Bonus points were awarded if she were into video games too</li><li>Double points if she was better at the games than I was</li></ul><li>PC, Dreamcast, SNES, N64... they were all awesome</li></ul><div>Then, for some reason I quit playing as often.... then I quit playing them entirely. I'm not sure if it was because I started co-creating offspring or if my wallet was more sensitive to my gaming habits. In either case, I realized recently that I hadn't played much of anything in a long time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Caitlyn and I bought a PS2 a few years back with the intention of getting DDR and two pads so we could shake our asses together, but I had a hard time finding the dance pads. No one seemed to have them. So since we only had one pad it made for some slow gameplay. Then, the Kinect came out for XBox 360. No controllers needed, but it DID require an XBox. (damnit)</div><div><br /></div><div>At my new Day Job, my fellow Newb, Myko, said that he had an extra XBox 360 laying around that he'd give to me. I'm all about the barter system and he mentioned that he would need some family portraits coming up soon. That sounds like a win-win to me! I owned the console for a week before I actually got a game for it: LA Noire. It's an excellent game brought to you by Rockstar Games (GTA, etc).</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jeYym1U226M" width="560"></iframe><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br />I'm also interested in getting a hold of Street Fighter when I get a moment.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/byVeWWSCUeU" width="560"></iframe><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Myko gave/lent me Soul Caliber&nbsp;4 (I own SC3 on PS2) and Fable2 but I haven't cranked them up yet.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br />So anyway, to my point: I started looking through other games that I wanted to get into as well. I've been a HUGE fan of the Hitman Series, so that's definitely on my list. Hitman: Absolution doesn't come out until November, but it looks amazing.</div><div><br /></div><div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Yb_Gpqoc1wQ" width="560"></iframe><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br />I came across one game in the XBox market place that kinda left me floored. I really don't know if it's the most amazing game I've ever seen or if it's a complete waste of effing time. It's called Lollipop Chainsaw:</div><div><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nRfroCeDk2E" width="560"></iframe></div></div></div><br /><br />In any case, it looks like I'll start slowly making my way through each of these....Maybe not the Lollipop One... that might be a rental. lol<br /><br />Have any thoughts on what games I should try out? Leave them in a comment below.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-37138238497352487712012-05-04T13:06:00.001-06:002012-05-04T15:07:38.201-06:00An Unfortunate Truth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YbvHTwfvUho/T6Qb9O_yF5I/AAAAAAAAAlg/A0RfYZHnnmk/s1600/640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YbvHTwfvUho/T6Qb9O_yF5I/AAAAAAAAAlg/A0RfYZHnnmk/s640/640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">Above is a photo from my latest shoot that I booked. I really think this one speaks to a lot of us in the photo industry... Clients, Artists, Photographers....<br /><br />No, there's nothing wrong with your browser. There really is nothing in that photo.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's why:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I had a lovely woman book a boudoir shoot with me recently. She was so excited to book a boudoir shoot for her dude that the opportunity had both of us spinning with ideas. She had seen some of my previous work that I had done for a friend of hers and just wanted me to create something unique for her. She trusted me to be a badass photographer and make something beautiful, classy, and artistic. She was, in my mind, the perfect client.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then, her dude caught wind of the shoot that we had booked... and was furious. The same shoot that she wanted to do for HIM and he was furious. Why? Jealousy. He insisted that I, as a male photographer, was going to sleep with my client and was using "being a photographer" as an excuse to get into the lady's pants. When my client let me know about the argument I was crushed. There are many MANY things wrong with this scenario that I'll apply generally across the board:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><ol><li>I have a wife a three kids, whom I love and cherish. Do you honestly think I'm going to ruin the life I've been working on to sleep with your wife/girlfriend?</li><li>Exactly how confident are you in your relationship with your wife/girlfriend that you don't trust anyone (men/women) to be around her?</li><li>This boudoir session was a gift to you for being awesome to her and for supporting her through everything that you've been through together and you react so negatively to it. Do you think she'll want to do anything nice for you in the foreseeable future?</li><li>The "<i>I got a camera, I'll take naked pictures of you... Ain't no way I'll let some sex-hungry asshole take pictures of you...Go Arkansas!</i>" argument makes you look like a fucking moron. Yes. F-U-C-K-I-N-G &nbsp; M-O-R-O-N. I'm a professional photographer... and I make a living with the skills that I've been honing for years. You could have the exact same equipment I have and have no fucking clue what you're doing with it, make horrible photos, and then have your wife/girlfriend feel like shit about herself because you're too proud to hire a professional, you fucking moron.&nbsp;</li><ol><li>When your car is broken, you hire a mechanic.</li><li>When your roof needs replaced, you hire a roofer.</li><li>When your plumbing needs done, you hire a plumber.</li><li>When you need a massage, you hire a message therapist.</li><li>When you need your dress hemmed, you go get it altered.</li><li>When your computer crashes, you hire a geek.</li><li>When you punch a hole in the drywall cause you're drunk, you hire a drywall company.</li></ol></ol><div>Yes, you can learn about those things and do them yourself... You might be talented enough to follow directions in a book or on YouTube and figure it out... But there's no way to hand you experience and inside information over time that you could possibly do the job with the same expertise and quality that a professional can. When you decide that your wife/girlfriend doesn't deserve the professional treatment that an expert can provide you are devaluing her. Ask her how she feels about being devalued.</div><div><br /></div><div>No, really. Go ask her how she feels about being devalued. I'll wait here.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ahem.</div><div><br /></div><div>People in general make these mistakes on a regular basis... We should consult not just one expert, but many experts, before deciding that we can do this stuff ourselves or hire that expert to do it for us. Human beings are capable of many things, but it's very difficult to master more than one thing at a time, let alone many things.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Let the experts do their jobs.&nbsp;</div><div><br /></div><div>Let ME do MY JOB and make beautiful photos of your wife/girlfriend so that she can present them to you and spark a little romance in your life. (You <i>do</i> want to get laid, don't you?) If she doesn't do it for you, she might just do it for herself and not share the results of her efforts with you. Maybe she'll keep them to herself since you didn't believe that she deserved the best-possible experience. If you don't treat her how she deserves the only pictures you'll get look just like this:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhT_JANhMtU/T6QkZoAX0YI/AAAAAAAAAls/CHbpcLRXr2I/s1600/640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hhT_JANhMtU/T6QkZoAX0YI/AAAAAAAAAls/CHbpcLRXr2I/s640/640x480.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">/rant</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Oh, and for-the-record: JCPenney, Kmart, WalMart, and Target don't hire photographers. They hire button-pushers, interns, teenagers that took a "photo class", anyone that can check email.... Anyone that can do as their told. They aren't photographers. Anyone that takes their kids to those places obviously doesn't love their kids enough to hire a professional either. Want to support Small Business? Hire a Local, Real, Professional Photographer.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">/endrant</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">/rant</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Yes, I cuss. I swear. I say mean things, but I'd rather that people that know that the guy behind the camera is a real person and not some fake brown-noser out there to make a buck off of you. I would rather you not hire me because it bothers you that I cuss than run around pretending to be someone that I'm not.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">/endrant</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-16713185887051885592012-05-01T14:03:00.000-06:002012-05-01T14:04:27.395-06:00Dude, where's my life?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fHyIV36xI1I/T6A_F65y1CI/AAAAAAAAAlA/HTTloucyZWQ/s1600/April+14,+2012-IMGP7836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fHyIV36xI1I/T6A_F65y1CI/AAAAAAAAAlA/HTTloucyZWQ/s640/April+14,+2012-IMGP7836.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Hello, all 3 of you.<br /><br />Things have just been crazy lately. I started a new day job which has been taking up quite a bit of my time... Well, not so much the job... but how I've had to rearrange everything and get used to a new schedule:<br /><br />6:30am - Alarm goes off... I hit the snooze button.<br />6:45am - My wife calls me from her work and tells me to get up.<br />6:50am - My mother arrives to watch the kids<br />7:00am - Leave for work<br />7:05am - Forgot my wallet, keys, brain... head back inside to collect them.<br />7:10am - Leave for work<br />7:55am - Arrive at work in Boulder<br />5:00pm - Leave work<br />6:00pm - Arrive home<br />6:10pm - Eat dinner with the family<br />6:45pm - Play a game with the kids, Usually Scrabble or Candy Land in&nbsp;Deutsche<br />7:15pm - Kids get sent to bed<br />7:30pm - Kids tucked in<br />7:35pm - Kids retucked<br />7:40pm - Medium-sized-kid retucked<br />8:00pm - Talk with the wife<br />8:30pm - Watch a movie or The Colbert Report with the wife<br />9:00pm - Wife goes to bed since she has to be up at 2:30am.<br />9:05pm - Work on lots of photo projects that need lots of attention<br />9:15pm - Realize that I don't have&nbsp;lots of photo projects that need lots of attention<br />9:30pm - Realize that I need to promote myself better so that I have more projects<br />9:31pm - Realize that my client base is now in bed and my opportunity to promote to them is gone for the day<br />9:32pm - Get depressed<br />9:35pm - Read about what other photographers are doing and how busy they are<br />10:00pm - Watch YouTube videos and Flickr streams for inspiration and entertainment<br />11:30pm - Android Sleep tells me it's time to go to bed<br /><br />That has been my routine for weeks now. I got tired of it so I made fresh flyers to put up at King Sooper's bulletin boards and Starbucks. Made 1/4 page flyers to pepper the neighborhood around a local high school. I put myself on "sale" which is a double-edged sword; People are interested in hiring me all the time, but only jump on it when I have a special running. It lets me be busier, but it makes me feel cheap.... I hate feeling cheap. I work my ass off for less money.... Most people would quit their job if their boss told them to take a 20% paycut... That's what I do to myself when I have a "sale".... I hope my clients realize that... I love them, but it's hard to communicate how crazy things are when you own your own business instead of punching in and out for your check: When I go on "sale" I literally take a paycut.<br /><br />Anyway, enough loathing: I was able to schedule a shoot with Cassie a few weeks back. That girl is awesome! We had a plan to borrow a wedding dress and go up the hill and do some sunset/bride/whatever-we-can-think-of shots. Instead, it was mucky an rainy and not what we wanted so we went to Plan B.... Plan B was to put her in a tub and cover her in black... I wanted noir and although I didn't push the noir genre at all we definitely got some cool shots out of it. One them is above, but you can check out the rest on my site: <a href="http://bit.ly/JCPnoirbath">bit.ly/JCPnoirbath</a>&nbsp;I hope all 3 of you like them.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-16107498309281423042012-03-09T21:10:00.001-07:002012-03-09T21:10:52.718-07:00It's not on the back burner...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y4s7ssW_-C8/T1rTXT501XI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Ft2Vi9-7o6s/s1600/February+27,+2012-IMGP7050.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y4s7ssW_-C8/T1rTXT501XI/AAAAAAAAAeE/Ft2Vi9-7o6s/s640/February+27,+2012-IMGP7050.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />Hello all 3 of you!<br /><br />Begin Transparency:<br /><br />It's been a stressful week. Those of you that are in-the-know know that I started a new day job this week. I know, some of you are thinking,"Aren't you a badass, full-time photographer?" Sadly, no. I have two other jobs in addition to photography. Why? Cause I'm still growing my business at a pace that allows my family to ... ya know... EAT.<br /><br />When I was a bachelor, things were way easier to budget: I didn't have to feed small humans that can't get a job and feed themselves. If I were a bachelor I could probably afford to eat Ramen and slave away myself into starvation in the name of making are and fulfilling my dream. Since I love my wife and kids more than anything it means I have to do things that I don't really want to do in order to feed them.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong: I like my new day-job (and to a much lesser extent, my other day job) and I'll work my ass off for them... but I see it as allowing me the pay off my student loan and other crappy bills so that I can leave all of it behind when I can finally quit everything else. In the meantime, I can shoot as my schedule allows, build a client base, and feed the kids.<br /><br />There's this taboo out there that photographers can't admit that they have other things paying bills on the side.... Maybe I'm wrong about being transparent, but I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not. I'm just like everyone else trying to get by.... The difference is my Number One priority for my photography to feed my soul... Number Two is getting paid. I'm not about to take shitty jobs that I don't like just to make money. Fuck That. (Sorry if you're not a fan of using swear-words to create emphasis.) I would rather be poor and happy with my work than rich and hate where I am. That's precisely why I'm not a wedding photographer. I love my wedding-photo buddies, but I couldn't do that full time.<br /><br />Anyway, where I am today should look nothing like where I'll be in 2-3 years, or 8-10 years. I'm going to be a full time photographer and not rely on Ramen to feed my family. I need to build up my business and know that my clients are getting a huge value from my work. They value my work. They buy my prints. They share me with their friends. They book me again and again. All because I put my LIFE into my work. That blood, sweat, and tears gets poured into my work in a way that my new bosses only dream I could do for them. People spend money and time on what they value: I value my goals more than most. More on that some other time.<br /><br />Anyway, to <u>all of you</u> doing shit you <i>have</i> to do in order to do shit you <i>love</i> to do... Cheers! I'm with you.<br /><br />End Transparency.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-17518344366463311592012-03-06T09:00:00.001-07:002012-03-06T09:00:01.431-07:0030-50 Project: Update 10<br />This week, I'm posting my final subject for the 30-50 Project, Krissi.<br /><br />Krissi is another friend from High School. I didn't intentionally put my friends last on this project, but yeah... I totally did... Oops. ;-)<br /><br />Krissi was totally excited to shoot with me. We had planned to have her playing in the snow (it was&nbsp;<b>20</b>&nbsp;degrees that morning) and getting some fun photos but we also planned to get some really sad photos too... You see: Krissi has gone through a lot this past year. Her husband lost his job, twice. They couldn't get a reasonable unemployment benefit and it left them stressed. That's something we can all relate to in this economy, but something that not all of us can relate to is that Krissi was also diagnosed as being bipolar.<br /><br />I don't completely understand what it means to be bipolar, but there are apparently different sub-categories of it. Krissi often swings from being super ecstatic about life to dropping to a depressive state fairly quickly. Typically, "Normal People" don't understand what could be wrong with their friends and loved-ones that have bipolar disorder which leads them to distance themselves from the affected person. This can leave those with bipolar disorder to feeling very lonely which only exacerbates the problem. Krissi's husband, John, has learned to be more sensitive to her needs and realizes that&nbsp;<i>just being there</i>&nbsp;for her can make all the difference in the world even if he doesn't completely understand what is happening.<br /><br />As we transitioned from the happy-snow photos I warned her that I was going to ask her about how hard this past year has been. I told her, and John, that I was going to try to understand more about her disorder by asking questions about it in an attempt to get something really compelling from the session; A session which she&nbsp;<i>loved</i>&nbsp;and felt was&nbsp;<i>therapeutic</i>&nbsp;since she didn't have to hide behind a smile if she didn't want to... But I wanted to shoot Krissi when she was sad...<br /><br />Why would I do that?<br /><br />Easy: I love making&nbsp;<i>dramatic portraits</i>, remember? Most of the time we look at a photo and say,"Oh, she looks beautiful!" or "That's sexy!" but somehow photos of someone crying... or upset... isn't pleasing. You're right, though....&nbsp;<u>Crying isn't pleasant</u>... but it IS dramatic because it's a part of our life. I don't mean "Oh! Look how Emo that 14 year-old girl is! She's crying!" because that's just&nbsp;<i>stupid</i>....... I mean "OMG that woman is crying like she just lost&nbsp;<i>everything</i>..." It's harder for us to look at photos of those who are very sad, very angry, very&nbsp;<i>anything</i>... We only love the ones where we look&nbsp;<i>hot</i>, or&nbsp;<i>happy</i>, or&nbsp;<i>whatever</i>... but being sad is a part of our human existence. I decided one thing last year about myself:<br /><br />I shoot people, so I need to shoot&nbsp;<i>every part</i>&nbsp;of people's lives: Happy, Sexy, Sad, Angry, Lonely, Birth, Death.... All of it. To shoot only "happy" is a damn lie and anyone who only shoots happy should be ashamed of their craft. (bold statement, I know)<br /><br />Krissi,&nbsp;<b>Thank You</b>&nbsp;for letting me in your heart and showing the world what I found there. You're a wonderful human being.<br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FkDZsJLjrsU/Tzw8AH2KUmI/AAAAAAAAAdA/ghMJD-H3-w4/s1600/February+06,+2012-IMGP6487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FkDZsJLjrsU/Tzw8AH2KUmI/AAAAAAAAAdA/ghMJD-H3-w4/s640/February+06,+2012-IMGP6487.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QeoafNIY7zs/Tzw8Ai755vI/AAAAAAAAAdI/UdA_4j15ZWU/s1600/February+06,+2012-IMGP6601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QeoafNIY7zs/Tzw8Ai755vI/AAAAAAAAAdI/UdA_4j15ZWU/s400/February+06,+2012-IMGP6601.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HjU79VeQ_JU/Tzw8CIsaHPI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/lV1S1JSK7CE/s1600/February+06,+2012-IMGP6644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HjU79VeQ_JU/Tzw8CIsaHPI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/lV1S1JSK7CE/s640/February+06,+2012-IMGP6644.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HRbGoVK8z_A/Tzw8EGupTDI/AAAAAAAAAdY/Uav0Oc2HS8Y/s1600/February+06,+2012-IMGP6694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HRbGoVK8z_A/Tzw8EGupTDI/AAAAAAAAAdY/Uav0Oc2HS8Y/s640/February+06,+2012-IMGP6694.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-23675115496998587952012-02-28T09:00:00.000-07:002012-02-28T09:00:12.734-07:0030-50 Project: Update 9It feels like I've been shooting a lot lately. It feels really good to get out and do what I love. I don't mean that in that funny, stereotypical "Oh, I love it!" kind of way... I mean... having the opportunity to be creative and make something from parts of nothing is an amazing feeling. It's exactly the same feeling I get when playing Legos with my kids.... Making something from parts of nothing.<br /><br />When I had the opportunity to shoot my friend, Jenn, I couldn't pass on it. Similar to Leah (from last week's post), I've known Jenn for a long time, but we've had an "on-again off-again" friendship. It's&nbsp;embarrassing&nbsp;for me to say, but since I often speak from my heart I say things that I mean, but since they never reach my brain before they reach my&nbsp;tongue... it gets me into trouble. Sometimes I hurt people with the things I say and it totally sucks. It's made me filter out a lot of what I say, but to Jenn (for some reason) I don't filter when I speak to her and as a result we go years without speaking sometimes. This past time we "made up" (I guess that's the best way to describe it) we promised each other to talk it out before we disconnect again. She's a valued friend and an awesome person; it sucks to not have her around.<br /><br />Wow, for a post that's supposed to be about the subject it sure did turn into a navel-gazing introspection of a daunting reality... I'm Flawed.... in so many ways. ::Adjusts Tie Uncomfortably::<br /><br />Ahem..<br /><br />I took some liberty with the Black and White conversions this time. I haven't done that in a long time... I find that I take a different creative direction with black and white than I do color photos... The whites are white, but I drop the blacks through the floor while allowing midtones to remain. The result is what you see here. (I'll probably add some different photos in another post when I sum up the project...These are same ones I posted to FB, but I just loved them too much to pick a different set of 4 for each place...)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jYSCsaxcv9w/Tzw9zFc1nRI/AAAAAAAAAdg/7JIlOdGqnEg/s1600/January+28,+2012-IMGP6098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jYSCsaxcv9w/Tzw9zFc1nRI/AAAAAAAAAdg/7JIlOdGqnEg/s640/January+28,+2012-IMGP6098.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WJ46sNpK9Lg/Tzw9z6pO9SI/AAAAAAAAAdo/K2hyNjJQj1w/s1600/January+28,+2012-IMGP6166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WJ46sNpK9Lg/Tzw9z6pO9SI/AAAAAAAAAdo/K2hyNjJQj1w/s640/January+28,+2012-IMGP6166.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yFc_dI4n8iw/Tzw91fY5b-I/AAAAAAAAAdw/N08nKID2EeU/s1600/January+28,+2012-IMGP6185.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yFc_dI4n8iw/Tzw91fY5b-I/AAAAAAAAAdw/N08nKID2EeU/s640/January+28,+2012-IMGP6185.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OVnWq-Hsh00/Tzw92WxNBXI/AAAAAAAAAd4/dO_951DeSAo/s1600/January+28,+2012-IMGP6221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OVnWq-Hsh00/Tzw92WxNBXI/AAAAAAAAAd4/dO_951DeSAo/s640/January+28,+2012-IMGP6221.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-56926291248439543442012-02-21T09:00:00.000-07:002012-02-21T09:00:07.327-07:0030-50 Project: Update 88 posts about this project already? Seriously? Apparently this project has been successful considering I expected roughly <i>zero</i> people to take me up on this thing. Very Cool.<br /><br />Some of you might remember my next subject, Leah D'Andrea. I've worked with her on her costume design portfolio from last year. We've known each other for a long time, so when I was looking to expand what I do into a completely different direction she was an easy pick. I had been following her work for a long time and really admired it. There's a lot of&nbsp;parallels&nbsp;between fashioning pieces of cloth together and fashioning pieces of life together: They both require foresight, patience, resources, and ever more patience. There's always been something about designing and <i>realizing</i> clothing that has fascinated me.<br /><br />In any case, she doesn't just design cool stuff; she wears them too. Since she's a <i>costumer</i> she has quite the &nbsp;outgoing personality and is a natural when acting. Being herself is a little harder to do in front of the camera. I can't say I blame her since I get nervous too! It's a&nbsp;<i>good</i> nervous! If the roles were reversed and I was in a costume at some Con (I've never been to one as an adult... is that bad?) I would be incredibly nervous.<br /><br />Without further ado...<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wKqR5TdYfL4/TzwtS5zKa7I/AAAAAAAAAcA/5LIDeed2jZY/s1600/January+25,+2012-IMGP5932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wKqR5TdYfL4/TzwtS5zKa7I/AAAAAAAAAcA/5LIDeed2jZY/s640/January+25,+2012-IMGP5932.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jlYGXu5u3cI/TzwtTxdzj9I/AAAAAAAAAcI/LpFbtNhxUtc/s1600/January+25,+2012-IMGP5944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jlYGXu5u3cI/TzwtTxdzj9I/AAAAAAAAAcI/LpFbtNhxUtc/s640/January+25,+2012-IMGP5944.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-14QZdBmJowE/TzwtUt4695I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/KAxwWU92o9g/s1600/January+25,+2012-IMGP5986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-14QZdBmJowE/TzwtUt4695I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/KAxwWU92o9g/s640/January+25,+2012-IMGP5986.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3Wc2tmq_Vo/TzwtVk2BOJI/AAAAAAAAAcY/Bp13SQJqeCQ/s1600/January+25,+2012-IMGP6052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B3Wc2tmq_Vo/TzwtVk2BOJI/AAAAAAAAAcY/Bp13SQJqeCQ/s640/January+25,+2012-IMGP6052.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979969866168503088.post-5317093708542422722012-02-14T09:00:00.000-07:002012-02-14T09:00:01.737-07:0030-50 Project: Update 7Hello again!&nbsp;This week's post is brought to you by the number 7, and the letter D.<br /><br />In this session, I shot my best friend, Devin. I hadn't intended to shoot any of my friends, but when I put the call out for 30-50 year-olds I had many volunteers, naturally. Devin and I go back about a decade; We went to UNC together. We were roommates for quite a while in college, and then for a few years after we got out of school.<br /><br />One of Devin's passions is music. Not just music, but rather independent music that you might not have heard of. A few years ago he actually sold most of his CD's in favor of Vinyl Records. <i>Yes</i>, they still make vinyl. Tim Ferris, author of <i>The 4-hour Work Week</i>, said on an episode of CJLive that &nbsp; "...the book from this point forward is going to have to be art." He was&nbsp;referencing&nbsp;that digital media is so popular from books to music that printed, tangible works are almost a dying breed....in other words, "art." I completely agree with this, and obviously Devin does as well. In fact, some of the vinyl records he owns actually have artwork etched into them. They truly are a work of art.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GKYD23kfKP4/TxEG4IDnl2I/AAAAAAAAAbk/2XJ2NcRIZTY/s1600/January+04%252C+2012-IMGP5561.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GKYD23kfKP4/TxEG4IDnl2I/AAAAAAAAAbk/2XJ2NcRIZTY/s640/January+04%252C+2012-IMGP5561.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5U2_2qFkioU/TxEGIFnfWMI/AAAAAAAAAbM/Gw55iwb5HeY/s1600/diptych.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5U2_2qFkioU/TxEGIFnfWMI/AAAAAAAAAbM/Gw55iwb5HeY/s640/diptych.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FlXVUgiQKZo/TxEGJm2AMoI/AAAAAAAAAbc/NJwGaLWlJ60/s1600/January+04%252C+2012-IMGP5605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FlXVUgiQKZo/TxEGJm2AMoI/AAAAAAAAAbc/NJwGaLWlJ60/s640/January+04%252C+2012-IMGP5605.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0